Re-Squared
by SithsWitch
Summary: Ladybug wants nothing more than to win over the heart of Chat Noir. Unfortunately, his heart is already taken by a sweet girl in his class. Meanwhile, Marinette doesn't understand why Adrien keeps giving her weird looks, and Nino and Alya are about to explode with frustration. Or alternatively, a look into what would happen if the love square was reversed.
1. Chapter 1: A Moment in Time

Chapter 1: A Moment in Time

A/N: This was just an idea that popped into my head the other day that I couldn't _not_ write about! I'm complete trash for this fandom and I'm proud of it. I'm hoping to update at least once a week, but upper year uni courses will be the death of me. I hope you all enjoy!

 _This fic is also crossposted to AO3 under the name DragonWitch. I also have a tumblr, howaboutchat, for all things Miraculous Ladybug, including update information on fics!_

Adrien knew for certain the exact moment that he fell in love with Marinette. It was on his first day of school, after Chloe had tried to leave gum on her seat and he was attempting to pick it off.

"Hey! What are you doing?" A voice exclaimed from the door as Adrien poked at the gum. He immediately spun around to see a petite, yet very furious, girl stomping over to him and gesturing to her seat. Behind him, he heard Chloe and her friend Sabrina giggle hysterically as he stuttered over a reply. This girl was fiery and, _damn,_ Adrien thought, _really cute._ The tiny woman huffed and crossed her arms over her chest angrily. "Okay. I get it. Good job, you three. Very funny."

 _Three? Oh, oh no,_ Adrien mentally panicked while he tried again to defend himself verbally. Unfortunately, it did not appear to be his lucky day in the word department and Marinette barely spared him another glance, though it could arguably have been a glare, and stomped to her seat before sitting down next to the chewed gum. Slightly shaken, Adrien took the last available seat next to a boy in a ball cap and a blue tee shirt. The boy looked between the newcomer and the frantically whispering girls behind him a few times before inching closer to Adrien on the bench.

"Why didn't you tell her it was Chloe's idea?" The boy asked with a perplexed expression. He had witnessed the whole thing and knew that Adrien was trying to remove the gum, and yet he had quickly given up and let Marinette think the worst of him.

Adrien shrugged. "I've known Chloe since I was a little kid. And I know she's not perfect, but I can't throw her under the bus. She's, like, my only friend." The boy blinked in reply before shaking his head and letting out a chuckle.

"I'm Nino," he said, holding out his hand to Adrien. "And it's time for you to make some new friends, dude." Adrien smiled widely as he happily accepted the boy, Nino's, hand. As he turned to face the front of the classroom and begin his first official day in public school, his train of thought flickered back to the pig-tailed girl sitting behind him. He could almost feel her eyes boring disdainfully into the back of his head and yet he couldn't stop smiling as he thought about her passionate outburst and the determination that blazed in her sparkling blue eyes as she told him off.

 _Wow,_ he thought to himself as his new teacher, Ms. Bustier, began the first lecture of the day. _She's amazing._

Marinette knew for certain the exact moment that she fell in love with Chat Noir. It was the first time they had both transformed in order to battle Hawkmoth through his akuma, Stoneheart. There were a lot of emotions going through the teenage girl that day- she figured it was fair, though. It's not every day that a girl finds a box with magical earrings and a flying bugmouse telling her that she is the new superhero protector of Paris. On top of the whirlwind that was becoming Ladybug, that was the day that she met Chat Noir for the first time. The boy was tall with sun-kissed blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and a heart-melting smile. He couldn't have been much older than her and _wow,_ Marinette thought, _he looked really good in leather._

The first time they had laid eyes on each other, Marinette had literally fallen into his arms. She had felt the solid planes of his chest through their suits, as well as his well-toned biceps against her legs and upper back, and _really,_ she thought, _how could someone not fall for that immediately?_

As she hopelessly bumbled through their first akuma fight, Chat Noir was leaping and bounding confidently around the arena as he cracked jokes and made eye-roll inducing puns. It was something that Marinette couldn't help but admire as she tripped and squeaked and pulled all sorts of undignified stunts as she attempted to gain control of her magic yoyo. In her opinion, she was incredibly unprepared compared to Chat Noir, with clumsy Marinette making more of an appearance than the strong superheroin that she was supposed to be.

"No sweat, clumsy girl," he said. "I'm learning the ropes too."

And now, almost two years later, her and Chat were the strong, revered, miraculous heroes that all of Paris looked up to and relied on. Their professional relationship had developed exponentially, to the point where they barely had to speak to each other during battle because they both trusted and knew each other so well. Unfortunately for Marinette, it seemed that Chat was not as interested as herself in pursuing any other form of relationship. The young woman was not deterred, however, and was determined that one day he would realize how perfect they were for each other and they'd have three kids named Emma, Hugo, and Louis and maybe also a hamster. In the meantime, Marinette was incredibly grateful for the friendship she had gained from her partner, as well as from her group of friends at school.

Meeting Alya was among the best things that happened to Marinette the day that she received her Miraculous. Now the excitable redhead was dating one of Marinette's closest childhood friends, Nino and Marinette couldn't be more happy for them. She had also found a friend in Adrien, the boy whom she had initially thought the worst of for being friends with Chloe. He still acted a little weird around her sometimes and she couldn't help but wonder if she somehow made an equally bad impression that first day. But aside from a few minor bumps, and with the exception of Chloe, Marinette could confidently say that she was happy with the everything in her life.

But, as the story goes, she wanted something more.

And so did Chat Noir. Well, Adrien did anyway.


	2. Chapter 2: Reach for the Stars

Chapter Two- Reach for the Stars, Marinette. But Maybe a Closer Constellation?

"Alya, I am telling you. What you have on the ladyblog this morning is _art._ Pure, untainted, _art._ " Alya threw her head back and laughed as her and Nino approached Marinette under the shade of the giant oak tree that resided in the school courtyard. Nino raised an eyebrow, but his unvoiced question was quickly answered as Marinette thrust her cell phone under his nose. Nino righted his slightly askew glasses and glanced down at the screen.

"Chat Noir: A Man Off the _Cat-_ walk?" Nino asked with a snort. He scrolled through the multiple photos of a posing hero underneath, some of which were taken at provocative and, _whoa_ , sometimes downright inappropriate angles. " _Alya?"_ The blogger guffawed at Nino's expression as he shoved the phone back into Marinette's hand. The inky haired girl sighed longingly and flipped through the photos again as Alya patted her boyfriend on the back comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Nino. It was a submission from an adoring fan that I thought was too hilarious not to post, not a _Cesaire originale_. Actually, I think some of the photos on there might be someone else's that she borrowed for the article so I'll probably have to take it down soon anyway. I just figured I'd put it up long enough for Mari to appreciate it."

The said girl sighed happily and glanced up to meet her best friend's eyes. "I've already saved them all to my camera roll," she confessed. Nino still didn't seem too happy about the situation, but he brightened when he caught sight of Adrien's limo pulling up to the curb.

"Hey, bro!" Nino hollered with a wave the second that the model's blond head popped out of the door. Adrien's head shot up and a wide smile bloomed across his face as he waved back and ran over to join them, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he went.

"Hey, guys!" He replied happily. "What's going on?"

Nino gestured to Marinette's phone as he opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden elbow in his ribs cut him off. "We were just about to head inside and get ready for class," Alya stated sharply as she shot Nino a look that clearly said ' _do you want to hurt his feelings, you idiot?'._ Catching on quickly, Nino abruptly nodded and gestured towards the school.

" _Yup,"_ he said breathily, still winded from Alya's blow. Marinette looked up from her phone in confusion and met Adrien's eyes, the two of them sharing a look of bewilderment before Marinette shrugged and leaned down to pick her bag up off the grass. As she broke eye contact, she failed to notice the way that the blond boy's eyes lingered on her form as well as the sad frown that Alya and Nino bore when they noticed it.

Tucking her phone safely into her bag, Marinette started to head for the school, Adrien hot on her heels. Nino and Alya fell back behind them and Alya shook her head dejectedly as she hooked her arm around Nino's. "That boy is going to have his heart broken," she murmured, to which Nino could only nod. "Are you sure I can't tell Marinette? It could soften the blow," Alya inquired, turning her head to look at a suddenly frantic Nino.

"Absolutely _not,_ Alya! You swore under the bro code! You can never tell a bro's crush that the bro is crushing! That would be, like, the biggest bro violation _ever_!" Alya snorted and wrapped her arm around Nino's again, ignoring the flailing limbs that accompanied his response.

"Okay, _fine,_ I won't tell Mari anything," she conceded with a huff. "But once Adrien finds out how she feels about Chat Noir, he's going to be _crushed."_

Nino sighed and wedged his fingers behind his glasses to rub his eyes. "Maybe he'll pass it off as a celebrity crush and not take it seriously?" Alya scoffed and fixed Nino with a disbelieving look.

"If it was anybody else, sure," she said as the couple reached the steps of the high school. Adrien and Marinette were already inside, and many of the other students were also filing in as it neared the time for the first warning bell. "But I have never seen anyone fangirl over Chat Noir the way that Mari does. I know that you've seen her room, never mind her sketchbook. If only I could try and convince her that he was unattainable..." Suddenly, Alya's face broke into a wicked grin and Nino almost took a step back in fear.

"Alya, babe, what are you planning?" He asked hesitantly, wondering if he really wanted to know. The redhead quickly whipped out her phone and opened her inbox, scrolling through what looked to Nino like thousands of photos.

"I have everything I need in the fan sightings," she murmured frantically as she began screenshotting a couple of the direct messages, making sure to keep track of the senders as well. She looked up at Nino and blinked, taking in his deer in the headlights expression. "Well, I mean, I'll try _talking_ to her first. See if I can't convince her to be more rational and set her sights on someone she _actually knows_ -" she nudged Nino carefully as they entered the class and tilted her head towards Adrien."-without saying anything about his feelings, of course. And when that doesn't work, I'll just have to make it look like Chat's already taken!"

Nino blinked and shook his head in bewilderment. "Okay, babe. I'm not really following anything that you're saying but know that I love and support you in everything that you do." Alya's face fell into a flat expression as she regarded her boyfriend. With a huff and a rushed whisper of "you'll see", she pecked him on the cheek before making her way to her regular seat beside Marinette.

The aspiring designer glanced up as her best friend plopped down and offered her a smile. "Is everything okay with you and Nino?" She questioned gently, putting down the notes she was reviewing while she waited for class to start. "You guys were acting kind of funny and then you looked like you were having a pretty serious conversation."

Alya smiled at her friend's concern and all around sweet nature. "Don't worry girl, we're good. I just had to re-explain one of the literature concepts to Nino before the quiz today." Marinette nodded in acceptance and went to turn back to her notes, but Alya spoke again. "Do you want to hang out tonight and catch up on some of the history notes that you missed last week?"

"I would love to!"

The two girls ended up heading back towards the bakery once class let out that afternoon. It had been a long day, and Marinette was falling even further behind due to the downright _ridiculous_ amount of akumas that had been popping up during school hours.

 _Didn't Hawkmoth have an actual job to go to?_ Marinette wondered angrily before deciding that no, he probably just sat in his stupid little nest with his stupid little akumas all day long. She huffed and held her additional books from the library tighter to her chest.

"You good, Mari?" Alya inquired, taking in the less than impressed look on her best friend's face. Marinette immediately tried to cover it up and give the blogger a wide smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Of course!" She replied with faux enthusiasm. After a beat of silence, she let out a dejected sigh and leaned her head back dramatically. " _No,"_ she groaned loudly, causing Alya to try and stifle a laugh. "I'm just so behind and instead of catching up, I keep falling even further back."

"You could try actually going to class more," Alya stated, piercing Marinette with a borderline condescending look. The smaller girl's expression immediately turned sheepish and she hunched her shoulders forward guiltily.

"Yeah," she admitted softly as the pair reached the bakery and Alya pushed the door open for the two of them. "Admittedly, that would probably help a lot."

Alya shook her head fondly as they were greeted exuberantly by Marinette's parents. With plates of baked goods shoved into both of her hands ("Marinette's hands are full, dear, but you both need enough brainfood to help with your studying!"), the redhead followed her best friend up the familiar path to her bedroom before dropping the cookies onto Marinette's desk and her backpack onto the floor. Relieved of her load, Alya fell back onto Marinette's chaise lounge with a dramatic flop.

"Okay, I changed my mind. You can read over my notes, but I'm having a nap." Marinette scoffed and responded by picking up a stuffed black cat off her vanity and chucking it at Alya's face. The redhead squeaked in surprise and fell off the chaise, causing Marinette to laugh wholeheartedly. Alya huffed and rolled over, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she went. "Alright, _fine,_ but I'm keeping him hostage," she said as she tucked the stuffed cat under her chin and opened the ladyblog. She scrolled through the feed, taking down the post from that morning and considering the relatively out of date content that she had.

With a sigh, she rolled over and placed her phone on her stomach before hoisting the stuffed cat into the air and regarding it thoughtfully.

 _Well,_ Alya thought as she scrutinized the cat's fake black fur and beaded green eyes, _time to set my plan into action._

"There hasn't really been any new content to put up on the blog these past couple days," Alya mentioned. Marinette hummed shortly as she pulled her tablet out of her bag and plopped down into her desk chair. "I mean, what do you think Ladybug and Chat Noir do when there aren't any akumas?"

"Didn't they just have that huge fight with the Ice Queen literally two days ago?" Marinette replied, ignoring Alya's question. "There should be loads of photos and news footage about that akuma for the blog."

Alya rolled her eyes. "Everything is already old news on that one. I'm still pissed that Mr. Damocles literally forbade me from leaving to get my own footage." Marinette chuckled and waved her tablet in the air by her head as she used her other hand to reach for a cookie.

"But Alya, how ever would I have caught up on history if you hadn't been at school to take notes?"

"You could always ask Adrien," the reporter replied slyly, feigning nonchalance as she absently played with the long tail on Marinette's stuffed cat. Marinette just shrugged, clearly not taking the bait. _Wow,_ Alya thought to herself as she reconsidered her attack, _she really is oblivious._ "I'm just saying," she sing-songed as lifted herself off the ground and walked over to lean against the desk beside her friend. "He's pretty cute, right? He's got that blond hair and green eyes thing that you clearly adore."

Marinette choked on her bite of cookie and shot her head up to look at Alya. "I'm sorry, _what?_ "

"Whoa there, girl," Alya replied as she threw her hands up in a defensive motion. "I just wanted to remind you that there's other options out there. You know, more _attainable_ options."

Marinette huffed. "Chat Noir is _plenty_ attainable."

"Mari, you know nothing about him!" The girl sniffed and placed her cookie and tablet safely on the desk before turning dramatically in her desk chair in such a way that reminded Alya of an evil villain. All she was missing was, _oh._ The redhead glanced down at the stuffed cat that was still in her vice-like grip.

"Alya," Marinette said firmly as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, linking her fingers under her chin. Her eyes were rich with passion and she spoke with such certainty that Alya was immediately captivated. "I know Chat. Everybody who reads your blog knows him. He's the most amazing hero that has ever lived, and he risks his life almost every day to keep us safe!"

Alya crossed her arms. "Okay Mari, sure. We know everything that he presents to the media, but he wears a _mask_ , girl! Nobody knows who he really is or what he's _really_ like!" Remembering the cat wedged under her arm, the reporter whipped him out for a quick visual. "He may look all sweet and innocent," she said, thrusting the cat into Marinette's face. "But, for all we know, he could have some _seriously_ dangerous claws!" She grabbed the stuffed cat's paws in her hands and began to make clawing actions, complete with growling and hissing until she made eye contact with a very unimpressed Marinette.

With a dejected huff, Alya dropped the cat onto the desk and walked back to the chaise. "Okay, girl," she relented as she pulled out her phone and started scrolling through her earlier screenshots. "If you're gonna hold onto this celebrity crush thing that you got goin' on, I'll support you. But if you ever change your mind, I still think you've got a good shot at wooing our buddy, Adrien."

Marinette smiled softly as she pulled the stuffed cat into her lap and started petting it absently. "It's not just a celebrity crush, Alya," she sighed lovingly. "Loving him isn't even a conscious decision anymore. I just know that I would do anything to make him happy." Alya momentarily looked up from her phone and saw the dreamy expression on her best friend's face. She opened her mouth to say something, but Marinette beat her to it as she suddenly turned her head towards Alya in confusion. "And why Adrien of all people? I'm pretty sure he's still kind of put off from that gum incident last year. There's got to be plenty of girls that he'd want to date before even considering me."

"Oh no, I don't think-" Alya immediately clamped her mouth shut and cut herself off, letting her sentence drift into a high pitched hum. _Damn you, Nino,_ she thought, _and damn your stupid bro code._ Marinette eyed her questioningly but Alya simply waved her off and quickly changed the topic. "So Chat Noir is the most amazing hero, huh? Does that mean you're not a big Ladybug fan?"

"She's alright, I guess," the ravenette responded with a shrug before picking up her tablet and refocusing her attention on her mounds of schoolwork. Alya shrugged and looked down at her phone again, selecting more pictures for her next post.

 _Sorry, girl. I know this may hurt, but you just couldn't see reason when I tried talking it out. It's time for plan B._


	3. Chapter 3: Since When is LadyNoir Canon?

Chapter Three: Since When is Ladynoir Canon?

Alya was slightly more nervous than she wanted to admit as she approached the school the next morning. She had stayed up long into the night making sure that the post that she added to the ladyblog was one hundred percent perfect. It wasn't the quality of the post that was causing the butterflies in her stomach, but rather the reaction that she was scared it would elicit from her best friend. While she was doing this for Marinette's own good, Alya couldn't help but feel guilty for her actions.

However, she remained firm in her decision and as she neared the steps of the school, the blogger took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself before hoisting herself up the stairs. Rounding the corner to the classroom, she steeled her nerves one last time and walked confidently into the room. Only to find that Marinette's seat was empty.

 _Oh god,_ Alya thought suddenly. _Did it make her so upset that she wasn't even able to come to school today?_

Twiddling her thumbs nervously, she headed for her seat, waving to Nino and Adrien as she went. "Have either of you guys seen Mari?" She inquired as she passed. Both boys turned in their seats to face her as she plopped herself down on the bench behind them. Adrien looked rather unimpressed, Alya noticed, whereas Nino looked like the cat that caught the canary.

"No," Nino said with a barely contained laugh. "But I _did_ see your post on the ladyblog this morning!" Alya raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend's amusement while Adrien huffed lightly.

"Why are you laughing?" The redhead inquired suspiciously. Nino smiled even brighter and inclined his head towards Adrien slightly.

"There's no need to get upset, babe, I thought it was great! You know how much I ship LadyNoir. Adrien on the other hand has his feathers all rumpled because of it!" Adrien glared unthreateningly at Nino while Alya blinked and leaned back. She had expected a negative reaction out of Marinette, definitely, but out of Adrien? Could the poor boy not see that she was doing this for him?

"I just don't think they would ever pursue a romantic relationship, is all," Adrien grumbled, crossing his arms. "They need to keep things professional in order to keep the city safe."

"Who put birdseed in your cereal this morning?" Alya questioned in bewilderment. "You're the one who's usually all about this lovey dovey crap! Not that this is crap of course, Ladybug and Chat are clearly in love and I have the photos to prove it." Adrien mumbled something unintelligible under his breath and, before Alya could snap at him to repeat it, Marinette came flying into the room.

"Oh, thank goodness I'm not late," she exclaimed as she took her seat next to a slightly fuming Alya. "I swear I keep hitting the snooze button on my alarm while I'm still asleep." Her three friends chuckled in amusement before Adrien raised an eyebrow and asked her what _she_ thought of the new content on Alya's blog. The ravenette blinked in confusion before pulling out her phone and opening the ladyblog from her browser's favourites list.

"I didn't have time to check it this morning, I was in such a rush... Is it this- _oh,"_ Marinette cut herself off as she immediately started scrolling through the collage of apparently intimate photos of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Next to her, Alya's stomach did a flip as she exchanged a worried glance with Nino, all of her nerves coming back full force. Meanwhile Adrien was watching Marinette intently for her reaction. All three were waiting in tense silence as she finished scrolling through the post when suddenly, to the immense surprise of all of her onlookers, Marinette giggled.

" _Marinette?"_ Alya said in bewilderment as her best friend scrolled through the photos again, a small smirk on her face. Adrien and Nino were equally as floored as the redhead started drilling her friend for what she could have possibly found so amusing about the post.

"Do you _ship_ this?" Alya demanded in bewilderment. When Marinette didn't reply, all of Alya's sensibility flew out the window and she hissed loudly, "I thought you were _in love with Chat Noir!_ Why does seeing him with Ladybug not _bother_ you?"

Alya and Nino both froze in their seats and Alya's hands flew to her mouth to stop her from saying anything else. Marinette was unbothered, however, and still didn't look up from her phone. Adrien on the other hand looked as though his whole world was just flipped upside down.

 _Oops,_ she thought as Adrien whisper-screeched "Marinette's in love with Chat Noir?!" At that, the said girl's eyes finally lifted from her phone.

"I do love Chat Noir," she said pointedly to Alya. "But if I _had_ to ship him with somebody else then I'm glad it's Ladybug. They'd be, oh, sorry, according to your post, they _are_ a cute couple!"

Alya and Nino gaped widely at Marinette, completely oblivious to the minor freakout that Adrien was going through beside them. After a few long moments of open-mouthed staring, Alya blinked and shook her head in shock. "I don't get you, girl," the blogger lamented. "Anyone else would be devastated to see the love of their life with someone else!"

Marinette smiled to herself as she discreetly caressed the purse that held her snoozing kwami. The designer-to-be shrugged and placed her phone on the table in order to pull out her tablet and sketchbook. "He'll come around one day," was all she said before she started up her tablet and prepared to take notes. Alya turned to face the front of the classroom, staring forlornly at the wooden desk in front of her.

 _This is hopeless,_ she thought to herself as the different scratches and remnant graffiti on the desk all blurred together. _Sorry, Adrien. I gave it my best shot._

* * *

The wind blew Ladybug's hair back as she bungeed across the Parisian rooftops with her magical spotted yoyo. Getting a solid grip on a brick chimney, she leapt forward and plummeted off her current building with a growing feeling of freedom. A sense of elation welled up in her chest and a small giggle escaped her lips before she caught herself at the end of the yoyo and swung up to the top of the next structure. Her giggle grew into a full Cheshire grin as she spotted a familiar black and blond shape in the distance.

Pulling a near ninety degree turn, the heroine abruptly changed course and made her way over to her partner. Landing silently on the rooftop behind Chat Noir, Ladybug fastened her yoyo back around her hip before leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.

"Bonsouir, Chaton," she said suavely, her grin falling into a smirk as her fellow hero waved absentmindedly, continuing to gaze out over the city from his vantage point. His mind was clearly elsewhere, but the dark haired hero had a sure-fire way of getting his full attention. "Or should I say, mon amour? Since according to the ladyblog we're officially a couple now." Her plan worked flawlessly as he tripped up and almost fell off the roof, causing Ladybug to laugh joyously.

"You saw that, huh?" He questioned as he regained his footing and Ladybug's laugh faded, leaving only a happy smile in its wake. He turned to face her as she replied.

"It's all everybody's been talking about," she explained, leaping over to stand next to her partner. She rested her arm on his shoulder and leaned in so that her face was close to his. "Really, you should have told me! I would have been delighted." Chat laughed half-heartedly at her antics and gently brushed her off. Ladybug stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips, the same smirk resurfacing and resting comfortably on her lips. _Sure, Chat may not find it all that amusing now,_ Ladybug thought, _but one day when we're happily married and fighting crime as husband and wife we will both look back on this day and laugh._

"Why didn't you ever tell me about Dark Cupid?" He asked suddenly, cutting off Ladybug's musings. The smirk dropped off of her face immediately and she regarded her partner anxiously. He didn't seem mad, casually lounging across the building's railing and regarding her with curious eyes. Still, she crossed her arms self-consciously and her gaze fell guiltily to their transformation-clad feet.

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable," she confessed. She recalled the delighted emotions that had bubbled up in her chest at the feeling of his soft lips and the gentle taste of mint and coffee that lingered on his breath. She had been giddy for hours afterwards until the crushing realization that she had kissed him without his consent flooded her being. It had taken two batches of her father's macarons and Tikki seriously talking some sense into her before she could even leave her room. "You know that I'd never force myself on you or anything, it just genuinely seemed like the only way out of the situation. And hey, it worked!"

Chat nodded and nudged Ladybug's shoulder playfully with his own. "I appreciate that, My Lady. Honestly, I was _pawsitively_ impressed by your quick thinking." Ladybug felt her cheeks flare up under her mask and smiled brightly at the boy next to her.

"Oh good," she said with a relieved laugh. "I was worried that you'd be mad at me." Chat Noir waved off her comment good naturedly and shook his head.

"I could never be mad at _mew_ ," he said with a smile. Ladybug rolled her eyes but felt her heart flutter all the same. Maybe now would be a good time to broach the topic of their relationship- "Well, we'd best get on with _paw_ trol! I've got mountains of homework waiting for me tonight. Let's split up and meet at the Tower when we're done?"

 _Or not,_ Ladybug thought in exasperation. Chat Noir was never this excited to finish patrol and get back to his homework. Maybe the post on the ladyblog freaked him out more than she realized. Did he find being in a relationship with her so appalling that he didn't even want to spend their usual amount of patrol time together? She may not have been the _most_ incredible person out there but she thought she was appealing enough to not physically scare Chat away. _Oh well._ She quickly forced down her annoyance and smiled at her partner.

"I'll race you!" She exclaimed, shooting out her yoyo and swinging away before Chat had a chance to react. The cat-themed hero blinked and then huffed out a small laugh, shaking his head in amusement before extending his baton and jumping off in the opposite direction.

"You're on, My Lady," he replied into the night.


	4. Chapter 4: An Abuse of Power

Chapter Four: Is it Really Abuse of Power if Plagg Says it's Okay?

* * *

A/N: sorry for skipping a week, everyone. I had a couple big papers that I had to focus on! Here's a slightly longer chapter to make up for it.

* * *

Adrien paced restlessly across the small space between his television and the couch, muttering incoherently to himself as he considered what he had learned at school that day. Plagg floated nearby, happily staying out of his charge's dilemma and focusing instead on the large chunk of camembert in his tiny black paws.

Running his fingers through his hair for roughly the forty-sixth time that night, Adrien debated how best to approach his current situation. It certainly wasn't a common issue, he mused with a slight frown. The love of his life was in love with him and yet, was she really? It was no lie that the young model felt as though his superhero alter-ego was a better representation of himself than the quiet and well mannered front that he put forth for the sake of his father's business, but the polite, reserved Adrien was still a part of who he was.

It seemed as though Marinette had little interest in the Adrien Agreste side of him and preferred the Chat Noir part drastically more. However, upon thinking about it- and was he ever doing a _lot_ of thinking- he had never seen any indication that his classmate was in love with his leather clad self. He allowed himself to hope for the briefest moment that maybe Marinette just wasn't an overly outward person when it came to her feelings. After all, they had been friends for almost two years and today was the first that he'd ever heard of Marinette's crush. He brushed that train of thought off quickly however as he recalled Nino's confession that him and Alya had tried to keep it a secret from him to spare his feelings.

After class, Adrien had practically dragged Nino to the Agreste mansion, ignoring his father's rule that the DJ technically wasn't allowed in the house. He had sat his friend down on the couch and demanded that he tell Adrien everything that he knew about Marinette's feelings for Chat Noir. In between his hesitation for his oldest friend's privacy and his constant distraction by the stuff in Adrien's room (" _Dude!_ Is that a rock wall?"), the model had gathered that his crush was borderline obsessed with his other identity. Plagg was practically vibrating in his pocket during the conversation, the little kwami losing his mind with laughter.

Which brought Adrien to his current predicament.

Marinette was somehow so in love with him as Chat Noir that she barely even noticed Adrien Agreste. So what was it that made her so infatuated with Chat? He briefly considered the possibility that she was attracted to his fame, but then Adrien himself was already a famous model. A model that worked for her favourite designer, no less. Aside from the fact that he knew for certain that Marinette wasn't so shallow as to love someone only for their fame, there was no way that she would pick Chat over him for that. But if it wasn't that, then what?

Adrien groaned in frustration as he realized that he wasn't getting anywhere with his ponderings. The teenager flinched slightly as he suddenly recalled how quickly he had brushed his partner off during their evening patrol. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts of Marinette that he barely responded to her attempts at conversation and even cut his patrol short in order to get home and do nothing except think himself into oblivion. Glancing over to his kwami, Adrien briefly wondered if maybe he ought to transform and find her to-

Wait.

A sly grin split across the model's face as an idea popped into his head. Normally Plagg would shoot the quickly forming plan down with a half-assed rant about responsibility and not using the miraculous for your own gain, _but,_ Adrien considered as he slinked up to the tiny god-like creature, _if I offer enough incentive..._

"Hey, Plagg?" He drawled as he approached his kwami. Plagg looked up from his last bite of cheese to regard his chosen suspiciously.

"I don't like the sound of your voice right now," the floating cat stated, quickly shoving the remaining snack into his mouth in fear that Adrien might take it away.

Adrien grinned even wider, clasping his hands behind his back in mock innocence. "How do you feel about the sound of four whole wheels of camembert?" The kwami's eyes widened almost humorously at the offer before quickly narrowing into an incredibly suspicious glare.

"What do you want?"

A soft blush dusted Adrien's cheeks as he rocked back and forth on his heels, looking anywhere but at his kwami. There was no way that Plagg was going to give up the opportunity to tease him about this, no matter what his answer was. "I was just hoping to transform into Chat for a little while," he said unconvincingly. "I just think-"

"You want to go visit the baker girl."

Adrien faltered, his eyes shooting back to the magical floating cat. Hesitantly, the young boy nodded while his hand came up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Make it five and I don't care what you do," the kwami stated with a roll of his eyes. A gleeful smile took over Adrien's features as he had to physically stop himself from jumping with joy.

"Thanks Plagg, you're the best!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just don't do anything too mushy and don't you even think about forgetting my ch _eeeaaah!"_

The kwami's demands were cut off by an excited Adrien initiating his transformation, causing Plagg to fly through the air dramatically and into the black cat miraculous. A vibrant green glow emanated throughout the room for a quick moment before Chat Noir stood in Adrien's place. The hero wasted no time in leaping out the window and launching himself out onto the Parisian rooftops, his brilliant grin still plastered to his face.

* * *

Marinette huffed indignantly as she flopped ungracefully into her desk chair and released her transformation. Her small companion shot out of her earrings before floating up into her charge's face and tilting her head curiously.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki inquired. Marinette just sighed and turned her chair to face the desk in order to cross her arms on the hard surface and drop her head into them. Her kwami followed and landed lightly next to the girl's left arm.

"Chat barely wanted to talk to me, Tikki," Marinette groaned. The muffled sound was barely distinguishable, but Tikki placed a reassuring paw on her elbow and smiled gently.

"He seemed to have a lot on his mind! Don't blame yourself for his actions tonight! Chat Noir could lead a very difficult life under his mask, there's too much that you don't know in order for you to assume that it's your fault!" Marinette turned her head so that her cheek was resting on her arms and she was looking at her kwami.

"I know that you're probably right, but I can't help but worry that the only thing he wanted to talk about was the Dark Cupid incident. I know he _said_ he's not mad, but what if I really screwed things up with him?"

"You did what you had to do in order to defeat the akuma, Marinette. You would have made that choice regardless of your feelings for Chat." Marinette smiled and nodded her head gently, though the movement uncomfortably made her face rub against the sleeves of her blazer.

"You're right, Tikki," the dark haired girl relented to which Tikki giggled.

"I'm always right, silly!" The two of them both laughed and Marinette poked the kwami's belly gently.

"Of course you are," she agreed with another giggle. "Well, at least Chat deciding to bail early gives me time to catch up on my schoolwork too." Tikki nodded in approval as Marinette reached into her schoolbag that she had left next to the chair before patrol. Pulling out her tablet and her physics textbook, the young heroine began working on her assigned problems for the week. She was so engrossed in her work that, about an hour later, it took her almost a full minute to register a tapping sound coming from her skylight. "What in the world?" She wondered aloud as she placed her stylus down on the desk and hesitantly moved towards her loft. Grabbing the nearest weaponizable object, she inched closer to the window until she caught sight of a familiar pair of brilliant green eyes.

"Chat?!" She exclaimed in surprise, surging forward to unlock the hatch and throw open the skylight. "What are you doing here?" She asked with a confused blink as the leather clad hero dropped onto her bed.

"Were you going to attack me with an umbrella?" He asked with a smirk instead of answering her question. Looking down at her right hand, Marinette noticed that she did, in fact, grab Adrien's umbrella that he had lent her on the first day of school two years previous.

 _I really should return that,_ Marinette thought offhandedly as she discarded the umbrella.

"You can never be too careful when leather wearing strangers start tapping on your window," she countered, crossing her arms over her chest and regarding the grinning boy sitting cross legged on top of her pink duvet. He opened his mouth to say something when an object beside her pillow caught his eye.

"Is this a Chat Noir doll?" Marinette's face turned beet red as the hero scooped up her doll in his clawed hands. She sputtered as she tried to form words, but the sight of Chat Noir thoroughly inspecting the doll left her speechless. "Where did you get it? I've never seen one like this in the stores before."

Marinette shuffled awkwardly where she was standing on her loft next to the bed. "Erm... I made it," she admitted shyly. Chat's eyes brightened and he smiled at her in amazement.

"That's incredible! You're incredible."

The young woman squeaked in response, not sure how to react to that. Discreetly, she lowered her right arm and pinched herself in order to determine if she was having a very strange, yet not unwelcome, dream. She flinched at the action, confirming that, nope, this was definitely real.

"Are you okay?" Chat Noir asked in concern, noticing his companion's silence and her sudden pained flinch. She blinked in response and shook her head slightly before answering.

"Sorry, yes, I just... _Why_ are you here?"

"What?" He asked slyly, leaning forward on the bed as a sultry smirk danced across his lips. "I'm not allowed to visit my favourite civilian?"

Marinette squeaked again and her blush returned to her face at full force. "I'm your favourite civilian?" The bluenette mentally cursed herself for the way she was acting. Where was the cool collectedness of Ladybug when she needed it? Besides, she knew Chat and she talked to him nearly every day. Why was her damn luck failing on her now?

"Of course," Chat purred. _Literally_ purred. And just like that, Marinette understood. Chat had never acted like this towards her while she was Ladybug, never returning her advances or showing any interest in her romantically. But suddenly it seemed that the cat had changed his mind and was at least somewhat interested in her... but as _Marinette._ Was it possible that he had figured out her identity and come to gloat? As panic seized the young woman, she immediately tuned into what her partner was saying to see if she could find any indication that he knew. However, when she realized that the hero was going on about her help during the Evillustrator incident and a few other times where she couldn't get away to change and ended up helping him with an akuma as a civilian, she relaxed.

"So what made you finally decide to visit me?" Marinette inquired curiously, sitting on the opposite side of the bed from Chat. He turned so that they were sitting directly across from each other and shrugged.

"A hero never gives away all of his secrets." Marinette rolled her eyes in response. Of course the cat was going to be difficult. Unsure of what more to say, the young woman reached forward and picked up the discarded doll from beside Chat, pulling it into her lap and holding it absentmindedly. Her mind drifted off into a world of possibilities, fueled by the hero currently sharing her bed. Lost in thought, she failed to notice the way that the boy's eyes honed in on the doll, a strange mix of jealousy and pride blossoming in his chest.

"How was school today, Princess?" Chat Noir inquired, placing an elbow on his knee and leaning his head into his hand. "Any exciting adventures that can compare to mine?" Marinette scoffed lightly as she snapped back into reality.

"Oh Chaton, I don't think anything in my life could compare to what you do." The young woman smirked at the white lie while Chat shrugged noncommittally.

"Nonsense. I'm sure your life is extremely interesting." The cat hero shifted on the bed so that he was lying on his stomach facing Marinette, hands folded under his chin. "Tell me what horrible foes Marinette Dupain-Cheng is forced to combat every day."

With a laugh, she reached forward and ruffled Chat's messy blond hair. "Aside from my arch nemesis, physics, Marinette doesn't fight too many battles," she replied cheekily. The girl grinned internally as Chat mewled at the contact and began a long winded explanation of his love for physics. There was something about Chat that made him so easy to talk to- both as Ladybug and apparently as Marinette. She was still confused as to what drove the boy to visit her but there was no way that she was going to take the opportunity for granted. If Chat wanted to talk to her civilian self then Marinette saw no reason to stop him. Her identity as Ladybug was still safe and it wasn't like Chat was doing any harm in visiting her after his patrol.

"Maybe I could help you out with it!" Chat exclaimed boisterously, sitting up suddenly in his excitement. Marinette couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm.

"My hero," she giggled. Chat's face broke into a boyish grin at the joke, his body practically vibrating with excitement at the thought of helping Marinette.

"What are you working on? Kinematics? Circular motion? Waves? Electromagnetic radiation? Atomic physics?" The hero's excitement grew and Marinette had to throw the Chat Noir doll at him to focus his attention back on their conversation.

"Silly kitty, most of that stuff is way more complicated than what I'm working on. Atomic physics is a high level option course! We're only just getting into kinematics." Chat blushed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly- a motion that looked strangely familiar to Marinette.

"Sorry," he replied with a nervous chuckle. "I just... really like physics. _And_ I now realize how incredibly lame that makes me sound."

"No! Don't say that. It's good to have something you're passionate about. Like, I like designing!" Marinette jumped up and grabbed her sketchbook before happily handing it over to Chat Noir. Eyes wide, the hero gratefully accepted the small journal and carefully opened it up to the first page. Gently, he flipped through all of Marinette's designs, taking in the intricate detail that she put into each piece. Ideas for fabric and technique were scribbled throughout the margins, some crossed out and some circled and highlighted. The work was astounding- as Adrien, Chat had always known that his classmate was interested in fashion. However, he had no idea just how talented she was. His father would be thrilled at some of the ideas that Marinette had tucked away in her little book.

To his amusement, Chat also found a common theme through a large amount of Marinette's designs. There were little cat paws recurring on many articles and the colour scheme seemed to orient around black and green. Occasionally there were some red and black additions that Chat assumed were meant to pay homage to his partner, but a majority were very Chat Noir-esque.

"Oh wow, Mari," he breathed in awe as he flipped back to the front of the book and looked through the sketches again. "You have so much talent. My fa- I mean, any designer would admit that you have an incredible eye for detail."

Marinette flushed red at the compliment, suddenly finding it hard to find words. She settled on a stuttered thanks that suddenly broke into a giant yawn. Chat looked up from her sketches at the sound of her exhaustion and smiled half-heartedly. Glancing at the small pink alarm clock beside the bed, he closed the journal and placed it gently on the nightstand.

"It's late, Princess," he murmured, shifting so that his feet were underneath him and he was crouching on the bed. "I should let you get some sleep." Marinette's eyes widened and she immediately moved to protest, ready to tell the hero to stay a while longer. However, her words were once again cut off by a yawn and she resigned to a sheepish shrug.

"Sorry... it's just been a rather long day." Chat smiled happily and reached for her hand, pulling her closer so that she was standing with her knees touching the side of the bed.

"No need to apologize. After all, a princess needs her beauty sleep." Chat Noir winked and lifted Marinette's hand to his mouth to place a gentlemanly kiss upon her knuckles. Her breath caught in her throat at the action and she watched helplessly as Chat bounded up through her skylight.

"Wait!" She called, pushing herself out of the window and stopping Chat before he could leap off the roof.

"What is it, Marinette?" He asked, perched atop her balcony railing. Marinette choked on her words for a moment before she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and took a deep breath.

"Are you going to come back again?"

Chat grinned mischievously as he shot her another wink. "Of course," he replied suavely. "I have a promise to keep regarding a high school hero and her mathematical enemy. Sweet dreams, Princess!"

With that, the feline hero fell back off the roof. Marinette's heart sputtered for a moment before she saw his staff extend and Chat Noir sail up into the night sky and out across the rooftops.


End file.
